KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia finished last in the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) today following a 3-2 defeat by South Africa.
It was the second time in the SoJC that Malaysia were beaten by newcomers South Africa at the Taman Daya Stadium.
Playing at 3.30pm under the scorching heat, hosts Malaysia were the ones who wilted under the sun while the South Africans were made of sterner stuff.
Malaysia won six penalty corners with the last one coming one second before the final hooter, but the homesters failed to take the match into a shootout.
Both the Malaysian goals came from penalty corners with Amirul Haniff Mamat (12th) and Zulhanif Sahran (56th) on target.
The South African goals were scored by Niel Raath (11th, 36th) and Hans Neethling (25th).
South Africa, making their debut in the SoJC, did well to avoid the bottom spot.
Except for a 2-2 draw against Japan, Malaysia lost all their earlier round robin matches: to India (5-2), Australia (8-0), South Africa (3-1) and Britain (4-2).
"The tournament ended with a disappointing result, but I am only interested in the positives displayed by this team as we go on a long journey to prepare for the 2013 Junior World Cup (JWC).
"First of all, even with a short two-week stint, our penalty corner flickers still managed to score goals but we missed a crucial one just before the final hooter," said Malaysia coach Amin Rahim.
So what next?
"We will give this team a two-week rest and recall 45 players to do another selection. This pool will then be trimmed to 30 and we will keep adding and dropping until we find the best for the JWC.
"And the best will be judged by attitude, determination and commitment. All my players are skilful, even South African players have good skill, but what separated us from them when we met twice in the SoJC was commitment and the drive to win," said Amin.
While the 18 SoJC players will "rest" with a self-training schedule given to them, Amin will travel from Johor Baru to Ipoh to join Arul Selvaraj as assistant coach for the Azlan Shah Cup on Nov 1-10.